It has been a year of wild oscillations but very little progress for the Precious Metals stocks as depicted by the chart of the Gold Bugs Index, the HUI. A quick glance reveals that the stocks started the year very well indeed and rallied until March where they stuttered and then returned to test the support level of ‘180’. The summer rally saw the stocks rocket from 180 to 220 before dropping back to 189 as we write. These rallies are in the order of a 20% move to higher ground, alas, they are followed by a 20% decline.

The PM stocks hit an all-time high in 2011 when the HUI hit 630 and then a vicious bear market took them all the way down to 100 at the start of 2016, registering a fall of 84%, a stomach wrenching experience for all those involved.